


True

by i_claudia



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2008-05-25
Updated: 2008-05-25
Packaged: 2017-11-18 11:41:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 461
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/560684
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/i_claudia/pseuds/i_claudia
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>He hadn’t noticed when Harry disappeared.</p>
            </blockquote>





	True

**Author's Note:**

> Written for last drabble writer standing and posted on LJ [here](http://i-claudia.livejournal.com/9535.html#cutid3). (25 May 2008)

He hadn’t noticed when Harry disappeared; he’d been sent reeling again by the sight of Fred laid out on the floor, looking pale, small and distant. It only took one look at the faces of his family to know that the world had shifted, shattered irrevocably, and he wasn’t sure they could ever put it together again. He reached out blindly, and Hermione was there, slipping her hand into his and giving a small squeeze.

McGonagall put them to work piling rubble, filling in the windows and the gaping holes. Ron worked mechanically, heaving the familiar stone up onto steadily growing piles, his mind distant. He stopped for a moment to wipe the sweat off his forehead, steadfastly ignoring the still forms on the floor as he looked around. Something was off, he thought, something wasn’t right, and his heart clenched again as realization dawned.

“Hermione,” he muttered quietly, trying to keep his voice level. “Have you seen Harry?”

Hermione looked around, her eyes growing wide. “He must be around here somewhere,” she replied, but he could hear the fear in her voice.

“Neville!” Ron called, seeing the familiar brown head crouching just outside the Great Hall. “Have you seen Harry?”

Neville stood up, dusting off his hands and walking toward them. “Not too long ago,” he told Ron and Hermione, but he sounded worried, pensive. “He said he might be out of sight for a while, though.”

Ron exchanged a look with Hermione. “He wouldn’t,” Hermione whispered. “Not without… not without telling us.” Ron nodded, refusing to pay attention to the visions his imagination was supplying. Hermione was right. Harry wouldn’t do anything stupid, not without telling them. They were a unit, a team… they did things _together_.

He strained to see outside, past the light and into the darkness. Harry was here, somewhere in the castle, he had to be. They just hadn’t looked hard enough.

When the voice came of the darkness, he wanted to laugh. Did Voldemort really think he could bluff them like that? Oh please, he thought, does he really think we’ll believe Harry _bloody_ Potter actually gave himself up?

Not until he heard McGonagall’s scream, not until he saw the pale, limp doll in Hagrid’s arms, did reality come crashing down around him. His ears roared, and the world rushed up at him. His knees lurched, then, without thinking, he was running, pelting down the lawn. He felt Hermione’s hand still in his own, and fresh defiance flared up in him, filling the yawning void in his chest.

Harry wasn’t gone, he knew. Harry had trusted him, saved him. Harry lived on inside him, and as he yelled his rebellion out, voice ringing out above the rest, he knew Harry would never be gone.


End file.
